Mamata demands Amit Shah’s resignation over toppling state government remark

Trinamool supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has demanded Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s resignation, citing his recent statement claiming that Bengal government would be toppled within a year of 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Banerjee also demanded an impartial investigation into the recent claims made by former Jammu & Kashmir governor, Satyapal Malik, regarding the Pulwama attack of 2019. Referring to a letter given by the Centre on conducting a Aadhaar verification drive, the chief minister alleged that the Centre is raising NRC-CAA, again.

Also Read: ‘Ab ki baar, phir se haar,’ Trinamool’s ‘rebuttal’ to Amit Shah’s 35-plus seat claim in Bengal

Shah, on April 14, addressed a public meeting in Bengal’s Birbhum district, where he had said that if people offer 35 (of the 42) Lok Sabha seats to the BJP from the state, then the Trinamool-led government will collapse before 2025. Banerjee alleged that the Union home minister was indulging in a conspiracy to topple the government. “We demand the resignation of the home minister, in a constitutional manner,” the chief minister said.

Banerjee also raised the issue of Malik’s remarks made in a recent interview regarding Pulwama attack. “We had raised this issue back in 2019 too, but since at that time, it was a matter of country first, we didn’t want to say anything against the government. However, the truth has come out today. The BJP government was in power in 2019, and it was the Centre’s fault that we have lost the lives of our jawans. We want an impartial investigation in the claims…,” she said.

She referred to regional issues – Centre’s sending of 151 teams to Bengal to probe post-poll violence, and proactiveness observed when any incident takes place in the state. The home minister went to Maharashtra for an event, where 11 people lost lives, and six hundred people were taken ill, she said. “Will the central government now send a fact-finding team to Maharashtra? Or is that only reserved for Opposition-ruled states?” Banerjee questioned, and also raised the recent incident of the killing of the gangster-turned-politician, as he was being taken away by police.

CM suspicious about Centre’s Aadhaar drive

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, on Monday, referred to a letter by the Centre, and alleged that the BJP was indulging in “communalism, polarisation and casteism”.

Banerjee, referring to the letter, said that a Aadhaar verification drive has been proposed for checking invalid card holders, the areas have been specifically mentioned for the drive. “The Centre is again playing with fire before elections by raising (the) NRC and CAA issue,” Banerjee was quoted as saying in a press note.

Opposition unity

Banerjee asked the Opposition parties to unite. “The home minister claims that they will get 35 Lok Sabha seats in Bengal, they don’t have the might to get even five seats. I can say this with certainty that BJP is not coming to power in 2024, so their dream of toppling (the) Bengal government in 2025 will remain a dream,” she said.